Here’s an easy way to use cardboard for your garden, that can be as rustic or as fancy as you like.

Step 1: What You Will Need

What you will need:

1. Cardboard; preferably corrugated from boxes

2. Intact boxes of size and shape you like to use as blocks themselves and/or as patterns for additional blocks.

3. Scissors

4. Utility knife

5. Non-toxic glue

6. Non-toxic colored markers or poster paints

Step 2: Trace or Draw Foldable Box Form

Open up the intact box, separating any glued parts and flatten it out.

Then trace the outline of the flattened box on a flat piece of cardboard.

Step 3: Cut Flat Cardboard Into Foldable Forms

Cut out the traced form with the scissors, including all cuts that were part of the original box.

Or you may design your own box, being sure to include foldable flaps for gluing it together.

The photo is of one I designed.

I'm sure you can do better.

Step 4: Score the Fold Lines If Needed

Lightly score the fold lines (use the original box form for reference) with the utility knife, especially where the folds need to go across the corrugations instead of going with them,

Step 5: Fold and Glue the Boxes

Fold the cut out and scored cardboard forms into boxes, creasing the folds as needed for the box to hold its shape.

If using an original box, fold it up “inside out” to give yourself a clean surface to work with.

Then glue the overlapping flaps.

One flap may be left unglued in order to put sand or soil into the box later for added weight.

Let glue dry,

May need to hold in place with a rock.

Step 6: Finishing Up

The blocks may be used as is in the garden, or they may be decorated any way you like.

They could be colored or painted to resemble various edging materials such as wood, brick or stone.

Probably simple designs in earth tones will work best, so that with time and rain,

as the blocks begin to slump and deform, they will turn into natural, rustic shapes.